Pino, J.L.; Ascunce, M.S.; Reed, D. and Hugot, J.P. 2012. Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for the endangered Laotian rock-rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) using 454-sequencing technology. Conservation Genetics Resources 4:999–1002.ABSTRACT: The Laotian rock rat (Laonastesaenigmamus) is the single surviving member of the family Diatomyidae, which has a distribution restricted to the karstic region of Lao-PDR. Here we describe the development of 12 polymorphic microsatellites markers for the endangered Laotian rock rat using 454-sequencing. We successfully tested 12 markers in 30 individuals from 2 populations. Eleven of the 12 loci were polymorphic and the number of alleles detected per locus ranged from 2 to 11. Three of these loci deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, which coincides with the detection of possible null alleles. These microsatellite markers are expected to contribute in future research and conservation of L. aenigmamus.

J.L. Pino, M. Ascunce, D. Reed and J.P. Hugot. 2012. Microsatellite-DNA evidence population structure in the endangered Laotian Rock-Rat (Laonastes aenigmamus). 92nd Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists. Reno, USA.ABSTRACT: The Laotian rock rat, locally known as the kha-nyou (Laonastes aenigmamus), is considered a living fossil due the ancient divergence of its lineage within the order Rodentia. Although there is scarce information on the species boundaries, its distribution is mainly known from Southeast Asia, more specifically from a karstic region in Laos Republic. The affinity of Laonastes to karstic-uplifts suggests that its populations will show high population structure and potentially substantial genetic differentiation across their known distributional range. Here we developed and tested microsatellite markers de novo, and used microsatellite DNA variation to assess the population structure of Laonastes along a geographic range in Central Laos. We found evidence that indicates the presence of 3 major clusters or populations along the surveyed range and some degree of admixture among populations. These data are of importance for future explorations of the species boundaries. The microsatellite markers we developed offer a venue for studying demographic aspects of this threatened species.